Picks Of The Week (20.06.26

1. LoveTheEND - Digital Crush 💎 [Sinful Maze]

Recommended if you like: Vici, A.way, The Caracal Project

Even though I have talked about more than 600 artists on here in our more than six years of doing this, there are still so many more names out there that deserve a spotlight or two - LoveTheEND being one of sadly too many. So let's use the opportunity this new Sinful Maze freebie presents and finally slay this particular iron dragon!

1.1. Julian The Iron Dragon (2017 - 2023)

The man behind this particular Hidden Gem Of The Week™️ is Julian Eisendrache, one of Toulouse's most prolific and, in my opinions underrated, artists in the bass music scene. As a german, can I just say how epic this name is? Eisendrache is literally "iron dragon", like that's so sick? Very jealous over here. Anyway.

At a time when joung Ju was mostly concerned with Minecraft et al., his uncle did the honourable thing and educated him in the fine arts of electronic music, via a customised CD full of Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy goodness. Eventually, he embarked on his very own DAW adventure (DAWventure?) and after trying out Eisendrache and E D I C I U S as names for this project of his, LoveTheEND finally emerged victorious in the ~~end~~ thing he loves so much, back in 2019. At the same time he was preparing his debut release, his succinctly titled 2020 Whispered Secrets, Only A Dead Woman Could Know LP, however, he also started working together with Tryst Temps, under their collaborative alias Deadboyz. The talent for titles seemed to carry over, considering delicious discographic gems like SOUNDS LIKE SH!T or HOLY FENTANYL. But aside from a bunch of live show appearances, that's kind of it for the deceased young'uns. Maybe they have just grown up. Anyway.

Following said long-titled, self-released, wonky wizardry featuring debut album, Julian would start spreading his iron wings and fly on over to imprints like Nü Kvlture, Project Underground, Incurzion and Off-License, with one Eisendrache Project (also known as EP) after the other. The real madness, however, was still ahead of us.

1.2. ENDless Fire (2023 - 2026)

Instead of bundling his many creations into multi-track projects like before, he started splitting them up into many, many more single projects, resulting in a truly overwhelming amount of releases in 2023. I do realise this is gonna devolve into name-spamming, but I want you to experience the same amount of "wait, another one?" that I went through when compiling this list. He appeared on Coliseum (3x), In The Lab (2x), Ignescent, Incurzion (2x), Off-License, French Plates, CLUSTER TRAXX, Nü Kvlture, Vahana, and Torsade - and he also released something himself. I think at the very least six of those were part of compilations. He truly was everywhere! Even in 2024, he not only made splashes on the underground techy label trifecta In The Lab, Stellar, and All172Things (RIP), he also returned to Incurzion and Coliseum and even brought a full-on EP to Vandal!

While last year was a little quieter than those turbulent times, the releases he did bring to the table, the Silver Lights, Songbird, and Moga EPs, were of such high quality it was clear he was still far from finished - despite the love for the concept. 'Silver Light' was even featured on UKF! Now, after debuting on there with the aforementioned Songbird EP, he once again returns to Sinful Maze for a rather delicious second helping, in the form of freebie Digital Crush. Let's talk about it then!

1.3. Digital Crush

Slowly but surely blossoming from mild butterflies to full-on infatuation, Digital Crush introduces us into its warm embrace of a world with heart-warming synth melodies and most wonderful, futuristic vocal eh's. As the bass approaches, however, things seem to take a turn for the chaotic and once the Judrache fades it all out for one last riff from an incredibly funky guitar, the stage is set for delightful destruction. Waves of distortion wash over your entire sensorial apparatus as this truly addictive french electro type melody keeps riffing on top of it all, before mechanical bass barks its doubts in response to the overwhelming positivity - but don't worry, Love wins in TheEND. Each little additional melody, the dreamy synthwave vibes and the wauwauwau in the breakdown, the variations in the second drop, it's all making me fall in love over and over again.

1.4. Conclusion

Dreamy, dazzling, destructive, D) all of the above. He crushed this - digitally.

2. BRANY - River over my shoes [Selfreleased]

Recommended if you like: Koji Aiken, SIMONS, DIVICIOUX

Now onto a name I don't even remember following, but whose newest creation has delighted me in many ways nonetheless: BRANY! A bit of a re-discovery!

2.1. Airat Nurkaev

While this particular name is still quite a new one, self-described medieval folk hyperpop producer Airat Nurkaev has, of course, already been pursuing this music thing for quite a bit longer in other areas, under other names. In fact you might have already heard his creations in commercials for LEGO, Samsung, Paris Saint-Germain, or even Dixi, listened to his tunes on channels like 5 Minute Crafts, or consumed his instrumentals by listening to Russian artists like ATL, Thomas Mraz, Loqiemean, and Masha Hima. Okay, the last one is a little improbable if you're not Russian yourself, but still! Under the Mostapace moniker, he has also shared solo productions with the world, as early as 2015. Plus, he's part of ОММАЖ, a Tatar language synth pop band!

Wait, but what about the DnB, I hear you ask. We're getting to that now, you hear me respond! Since 2021, the Moscow-based artist has been dabbling in this little thing called drum & bass, with the launch of his new alias, BRANY. Along with it came his debut release 'No Wrong' and the first edition of the BRANYTAPE mix series - launched on the now-rebranded second channel of La Belle Musique. However, it would take until 2024 for a sequel on either of these to emerge, with BRANYTAPE II hitting the SoundCloud and YouTube waves alongside an avalanche of self-released singles. Around the time of BRANYTYPE III is where I came into the fold - 2025's 'Fix Me' was my introduction! So while we wait for BRANYTAPE IV, let's take a look at his newest creation, shall we?

2.2. River over my shoes

With himself on the wonderfully heartfelt vocals expressing his worries about the future and sharing his fear of loneliness on top of similarly emotive synth chords, River over my shoes opens up its heart to us right away. As Airat gets more and more into it, a 2-step rhythm pushes him further and further towards his pleading final verse line, before a rush of synth-powered dopamine starts rising up in our heads. Following a second of hesitant silence, an explosion of synthful melodicality overpowers our senses, with only the trio of "mh mh mhhh" vocalisations able to interrupt the storm of emotions. I'm starting to blush over here!

2.3. Conclusion

Emotional and lovely, yet powerful and abrasive. A combination I could go for BRANYtime!